Success Stories at Weight Watchers

Check out this page where Weight Watchers features their five finalists for inspiring weight loss stories for 2008.

They show before and after photos of the three women and two men as well as brief video interviews. These stories are very inspiring!

Jane is one of the five finalists. This is her 'after photo' where she weighs 138 pounds at her height of 5'5". When she joined Weight Watchers she weighed 255 pounds. She is 41 years old. See her 'before photo'.

Birth Weight

Birth Weight is the weight of a baby at the time of its birth. It is directly linked with the gestational period at which the child was born. It is generally calculated after the birth but it can be also estimated during the pregnancy by measuring fundal height (a measure of the size of the uterus used to assess fetal growth and development). A baby born within the normal range of weight for that gestational age is what we called as Appropriate for Gestational Age (AGA). While those born above or below this normal range i.e; AGA often show unusual rate of development. This often indicates complications with the pregnancy which may affect both the baby and its mother. The chance of a baby being born outside the normal range i.e; AGA could be influenced by their parents in different ways which are as follows:

1. Genetics

2. Maternal Health (mother's health condition), particularly during the pregnancy

3. Environmental factors

Sometimes multiple births, where each baby is likely to be bornoutside of the AGA, could also increase the chance of another baby borning outside the normal range i.e; AGA.
Studies have shown that how a person's birth weight can affect his/her future life. This inlcudes obesity, diabetes and intelligence.

Obesity (a condition in which excess body fat accumulates to such an extent that health is be negatively affected)

A baby born outside the normal range i.e; AGA has increased risk of obesity in future life.

Diabetes
Babies that have low birth weight have also an increased chance of developing Type 2 Diabetes (Diabetes Melitus) in their later part of life. Intelligence
According to some researchers, an increased birth mass could have direct link to an increased IQ (intelligence quotient). Researchers also found out some evidence of a link between a baby's birth mass and it's mother's risk of having Myocardial Infarction (a cardiovascular disease).

So folks if you want a healthy child it's better to care a lady during her pregnancy rather than after the delivery. Keep that in mind!

Human Weight

Simply to say Weight is nothing but a way to measure mass, and thus expressed in units of mass. Human weight measurements is generally used in the medical and sports field. Like I mentioned above that human weight is expressed in units of mass, but a variation can be seen in it's units due to the diversification of people in the world. Generally it is measured in kilograms (kg) in most of the countries, while in USA people more often measure body weight in pounds. Similarly in Britain and Ireland, the unit "stone" (equivalent to 14 lb or 6.4 kg) is commonly used. Here is a chart that you might wanna see

Star Jones Weight Loss Surgery

If you are crazy about weight loss surgery then the very famous Star Jones should be familiar to you. Yes the very fame Starlet Marie Jones lost 150 lbs in a very short period of time. Many people wondered about how she lose that BIG weight she carried? The woman herself answered it after a long period of time. She revealed her dramatic weight loss secret on July 30,2007!
After years of rumors and media speculation, television talker Star Jones-Reynolds finally confirmed that she lost her excessive weight due to gastric bypass surgery (see more on Gastric Bypass Surgery).

Star Jones before weight loss

In an article she wrote for Glamour magazine, she mentioned that her dramatic weight loss was due to gastric bypass surgery, and that she dodged questions about it for years because she had fear of what people might be thinking of her?
Reynolds also wrote in the essay for the September issue of Glamour magazine that she was afraid to be vulnerable and ashamed of at not being able to get herself under control without the surgical procedure.
The former "View" co-host also said that she was "intentionally evasive" when people asked how she'd dropped 160 pounds in three years?.
She said that "My out-of-control behaviour started on my 40th birthday in 2002". At this time, she had reached almost her maximum level - 307 pounds. She had gained 75 pounds in 17 months. She also said that the procedure was performed in August 2003.

Star Jones after weight loss

She eventually shed the weight, but her feelings of insecurity did not melt away.
In 2005, Reynolds started therapy and said she gradually came to realize that "transparency is not humiliating." She began to share her story with strangers.
"I was hell-bent on keeping the specifics of my weight loss private in an effort to maintain control," wrote Reynolds. "Yet talking about my weight loss finally gave me the control I'd hungered for."
Now what do you think of Star JOnes?
Should go for medical intervention?
Keep in mind that the procedure is Risky and Costly too!
So think before going for the surgery!

New Year's Weight Loss Resolution

Happy New Year Everyone!

I've only lost a few pounds this year but I'm very happy with my progress because I've lost a lot of fat and gained a lot of (heavier but slim) muscle. Since January of 2008 I've managed to go for regular long walks a few times a week almost every week. I've kept a log of my mileage and have been averaging about 15 miles per week (with the exception of a few lazy weeks throughout the year).

My legs are a lot slimmer than a year ago, my butt has totally firmed up :-) and my middle-age belly is looking a lot better. I think the walking has even helped tone up my upper arms, as I haven't done any other kind of exercises but my arms feel much more toned.

I'm not overweight on the BMI scale but it would still be nice to weigh 10 pounds less. I've got an ambitious goal to walk an average of 30 miles per week for 2009. Doubling my mileage over last year may be a bit unrealistic and I likely won't be able to complete my New Year's Resolution but it feels worth shooting for.

I've really gotten to enjoy my walks and feel pretty keen about trying to meet the new goal. One thing I have to confess is I've been using a little prop that I don't think I could do without.
Walking would seem a little too boring without it. My personal secret motivator for getting out on that walk is the tiny little iPod I bought for under $80. (The price has since gone down to $49 as in the image above). My routine before every walk is to load up my iPod with about one hour of podcasts that I can listen to while walking.

I pass by a lot of other people walking or jogging with some sort of iPod or other type of MP3 device. I'm sure most of them are listening to music as they exercise. But in my case, I never download music as I find the podcasts are way more interesting. All the stuff I listen to is free and my favorite are the daily podcasts put out by NPR radio, the New York Times, Bloomberg News and some free Buddhist podcasts.

The iPod is so tiny that it's hard to find when you misplace it. There's been a few times when I couldn't find it and that was enough (not fully justified) reason to cancel my walk on those days.

I haven't paid any attention to limiting my food intake in 2008 and I don't plan on it in 2009. I think the increased exercise could easily do the trick of losing the weight. I have however been trying to limit my food intake to just healthy foods. Recently I stopped eating as much bread and cheese as this used to be my staple easy snack or lunch. I'm now eating wheat alternative breads but also choosing other types of snacks much more often.

I haven't posted here for a couple of months but hope to post regularily in 2009. A new year is here and there will be lots of success stories to write about.

Wishing you all a lot of resolve and motivation in your New Year's Resolutions!